Alcohol now comes in a new form: powder. The powder alcohol product Palcohol has been approved by federal regulators.
Palcohol has first been approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for a short period in 2014 but bureau officials later retracted their decision saying that the whole move was an error.
Opinions have changed yet again and on Wednesday March 11, bureau spokesman Tom Hogue stated that the problems were resolved and the four types of powder alcohol were given the green light. Hogue added that each U.S. state will be able to adjust alcohol sales within their borders.
This is an important achievement for the small company. But its products have already generated controversy, with a few states already planning to ban this powdered product. Many are worried that minors will abuse this new form of alcohol and that it is easy to bring to public events and use it to spike drinks.
Palcohol will be sold in a pouch. In order to consume it, one only needs to add water to the powder, which will result in the drink specified on the label. There will be four available types of Palcohol: cosmopolitan, margarita, vodka and rum.
According to a statement made on the official site, the company hopes sales will begin this summer. There is still no information regarding price. Mark Phillips, the founder of Palcohol said he preferred not to give details regarding production and distribution at this time. Besides the four already known versions, a fifth one is said to be approved soon: Lemon Drop.
Phillips explained that the idea for Palcohol came while hiking. He was thinking about a way of getting to enjoy alcoholic drinks at the end of a hike or after other activities without needing to bring heavy bottles with him.
According to Hogue, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau collaborates with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to determine whether a product can be considered “adulterated”. If the FDA reports the product is not adulterated then the next step is for the bureau to check if the label correctly informs the consumer about the product’s ingredients.
Hogue mentioned that:
“Potential for abuse isn’t grounds for us to deny a label.”
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